How to Get Clients From Instagram in 2024: Practical Expert Advice and Content Ideas

Are you looking to get clients on Instagram in 2024? Whether you’re a fitness trainer, baker, freelance graphic designer, real estate agent, or in any other profession, today’s article will provide insights into attracting clients on Instagram. Stick around till the end to learn marketing expert Jack Holman’s insights on Instagram growth and paid tools. 

Identify Who You Are You Talking to

Before you start posting, you need to know who your target audience is. Here’s how: 

• See who’s engaging under the posts of your direct competitors, what types of content get the most likes and comments, and what they offer as a business. Say you’re an English teacher offering online classes. Search for other English teachers’ accounts — Instagram will show you the ones getting the most engagement. 

• Research relevant hashtags. Yes, hashtags are still a thing. Check what posts show up first and who engages with them. For example, as a nutritionist or a fitness trainer, I’d look up #healthyrecipes, #fitness, #motivation, etc. I’d scroll through the posts and see what formats perform well (likes, views, comments) for future content ideas. 

• Once you start posting and getting engagement, follow the performance of your posts via Instagram Insights. By keeping track of what content gets the most likes, saves, comments, views, and reaches, you’ll be able to post well-performing content more often. The tool also provides you with audience-related data: demographics, active times, etc. You can use that information for creating a more detailed customer persona.

What’s a customer persona? It’s a clear picture of who your potential clients are, where they live, what they do, like, dislike, and their pain points. This will allow you to create the content that truly hits the spot and speaks directly to your potential customer. As you gain your first clients, you can dive deeper by conducting surveys and questionnaires to better understand your audience. By breaking down your target audience’s problems, values, desires, and aspirations, you will be able to cater to their needs on a whole new level. 

Optimize Your Profile 

The competition on Instagram is intense, to say the least — your page really needs to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Make sure your profile picture, nickname, and bio convey a clear message. 

Profile Picture

Your profile picture should feature you or your brand logo, depending on your business type. It shouldn’t contain too many details. The colors you choose will be associated with your brand’s message — make sure they align. For example, if you're a burial service, bright colors are unlikely to work for you. Ideally, you should upload a profile photo that is 110 x 110 pixels — this way, Instagram will display it without compromising the quality. 

Nickname

Aim for a nickname that is easy to remember. It shouldn’t be lengthy; avoid numbers and symbols. It could either be a short nickname or your name and surname. 

Bio 

As an emerging brand, you can’t afford to write ambiguous captions. A bio is one of the first things a potential client will notice when visiting your page. Make sure you communicate your business’s main message well. It is especially true for the first line in your bio — it has to be short, catchy, and informative. You could write your name and type of activity or use relevant keywords. For example, “Sarah Chen. Digital marketing” or “Fitness, yoga, weight loss”. 

A perfect formula for a bio that works doesn’t exist, but here are key aspects you should pay attention to when crafting one: 

• Make it clear what you offer, what makes your business unique, and who you cater to. For instance: “Helping web developers learn. Hands-on coding tips & useful resources for self-taught developers.” The bio contains all the information a visitor would need, while the last bit highlights the business’s unique selling point. 
• Be relatable—add a personal or emotional touch that resonates with your audience. It could be values you stand for or your personal story. For example, “A working mom helping women grow their businesses online.”
• Identify your tone of voice and stick to it. What’s your brand’s personality? Is it casual, or is it on a fun and playful side? Or, maybe, it is more formal? Same-niche brands can phrase their messages differently — one career coach could use a caption like “Stuck in a job rut? Let’s fix that! Your homegirl with career tips” in the bio, while another could write, “Empowering professionals to achieve career success. Leadership development & Interview prep.” See the difference?
• Add a CTA (Call to Action) line — encourage visitors to check out your website, sign up for your newsletter, DM you on Instagram, etc. For example, “Download my free guide ⬇️.” If you have several links to share under the CTA, create a Linktree profile. 
• Use SEO optimization by adding relevant keywords so that others can find you through the search bar. To give you an idea, here’s what keywords a psychotherapist's bio could contain: therapist, anxiety, depression, mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT, etc. 

Highlights and Pinned Posts

Highlights should reflect what your profile is about, who you are as a person and an expert, and what services you provide. These usually include the about me section, client cases and testimonials, product or service descriptions, price list etc. Remember to keep the highlight cover design consistent and neat. 

As for pinned posts, they are a powerful tool for showcasing your expertise and persuading newcomers to follow you and purchase from you. They should contain information about you and your services. You can also pin your best performing posts if you feel like mixing things up a bit. 

Create Engaging Content 

When your profile is optimized, it’s time to start posting. As a business owner, you already have the creativity and a unique message to spread (even if you don’t know how to yet). From my experience in content marketing, I can assure you it’s one the things you learn by doing. So, the recipe for quality content is less theory and more practice. Check what your competitors are doing, identify the parts resonating with your unique story, and create content that reflects it. Sounds a bit abstract, I know. Here are a few tips and ideas to boost your content creation process: 

• Make sure you upload clear, well-lit photos and videos. Consider investing in a smartphone with a good camera. Since Instagram is a highly visual platform, your content should be visually pleasing and easy to consume — remember that people use the platform to relax and have fun. 
• Define what your brand identity is and stick to it — don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be fancy. Choose your tone of voice and a design code that will eventually be associated with your brand — choose colors and fonts you will use consistently. Check out tools like Canva or Adobe Express for easy and intuitive content editing. 
• Post regularly. According to SproutSocial, the best times to post to drive engagement are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays, with extended periods on Tuesdays and Wednesdays lasting till 4 p.m. I’d recommend publishing content on your feed 3-4 times a week and stories daily. There is an abundance of social media scheduling tools on the market such as Later, Hootsuite, Buffer, and more. With these, you can schedule posts, stories, and reels, preview your Instagram grid before posting, check engagement analytics, learn performance insights, etc. 

Engage to Build a Community

Your business should unite people with similar interests and values. Engage with potential clients and stay active in communities — research pages of businesses you’d like to collaborate with, subscribe to relevant hashtags and connect with influencers in your niche. Comment, like, subscribe, DM, and leave reactions to stories. It takes time before you see the results, so stay patient and consistent. 

The content you post also has to nurture community growth. Instead of promoting your products or services, create relevant content. For instance, as a fashion brand, try making posts covering upcoming fashion trends or styling ideas for different body types. The engagement you get from such posts is way more productive, bringing leads and sales as the end goal — people tend to buy things, be it goods or services, when they feel genuinely understood. Posting simply for the sake of posting is unlikely going to work. 

Top 3 Tools for Effective Promotion 

Targeted Ads

Reach a wider audience by using targeted ads. Start with a small budget and monitor the ad performance. With your customer persona in mind, craft a compelling ad that will resonate — it has to contain a hook and a solution to their problem. 

For example, as a graphic designer, I would create a reel showcasing a branding project before and after, speaking directly to small business owners through captions and narration. Add targeting options such as age, location, interests, behaviors, and so on to reach the right audience. Be sure to test different hooks and formats to see what works best. 

Mutual Promotion

Another powerful strategy for attracting clients is through mutual promotion. Find another business in your field or a complementary niche to collaborate. Share content highlighting each other’s profiles to exchange audiences. For instance, as a fitness coach, you could collaborate with a nutritionist. It could be a joint post or stories. 

Reels

Reels are arguably the most effective way to promote your profile on Instagram at the moment. Consider these three main factors that are essential to your videos’ success: 

• Video quality. We’ve covered this earlier. 
• Video length: short reels of less than 30 seconds are more likely to perform well.
• Your reel has to bring value to a viewer. For example, you can solve their problem by posting a lifehack or compilation. Another way to attract attention is by entertaining and appealing to emotions: funny content, before and after posts, dancing, etc. Lastly, you can’t imagine Instagram without aesthetic content. This could be nature shots, outfit compilations, etc. Explore different genres and see what resonates the most with your audience. 

Content Ideas for 2024 any Business Can Use 

What do your followers and the Instagram algorithm have in common? They want to see content that is interesting, entertaining, educational, or valuable. The type of content you want to upload depends on your business. However, there are some key principles and ideas that can help you capture attention and build meaningful relationships with your audience: 

• Stay authentic. People want to connect with other people. Provide insights into your business and sometimes even personal daily activities. Show behind-the-scenes moments so that your potential customers can understand the human side to your brand. For example, as a pottery artist, post your creative process and how your pieces are created, such as here. 
• Actions speak louder than words. Post detailed client cases and testimonials for transparency. You can even take it a step further by uploading video reviews by satisfied customers to add extra credibility. 

• Emotions, either positive or negative, are powerful drivers in sales and marketing. Leverage this principle as an attention-grabbing tactic, but don’t overdo it: constantly making your following feel sad or angry can lead to disengagement. An example of an emotional hook could be this reel by Ellen Lupton, a graphic designer, starting her videos with “Oh no!” as an opener. 
• Make trends work for you. Customize your core messaging to trending sounds and scenarios to grow engagement. For instance, as a makeup influencer, you can use trending sounds for makeup tutorials, before and afters, etc. See how Saira Mirror does it. 
• Provide practical value. Share your expertise through how-to guides, tips, insights and advice that resonates with your audience. Offering value builds trust and traction. Say you’re a chef selling recipe eBooks. The most logical thing for you to do would be to post recipes — here’s just one of many examples. 

• Mix up different formats. Upload Instagram reels, stories, and carousels and test what works best. 
• Make it easy for your audience to interact with your content. Use polls, quizzes, etc. 

alt: An Instagram story by @coderbroo featuring a meme about computer science students and a reaction sticker. 

• Align your posts with seasonal events and trends to increase relevance. If you’re a photographer, you could share Halloween picture ideas for instance. 
• Tag the communities you’d like to build relationships with. The most obvious example would be beauty influencers and makeup artists tagging makeup brands they use in a given makeup tutorial, like here.
• Host live sessions to nurture a sense of personal connection. This could be a Q&A session, a livestream of your work process, etc. 
• Do limited-time promotions to create a sense of urgency. For example, you could create a special promo code you’ll share on your Instagram story that will only be active for 24 hours when selling a course or a guide. 

Content Plan Example 

Instagram is all about content, and a strong content strategy often begins with trial and error. Don’t be afraid to experiment and test new approaches. To help you get started, I’ve created a simple content plan tailored for a freelance graphic designer in the beginning of their Instagram journey. Remember, engagement is key — make it a habit to interact with potential clients and communities to grow your presence. 

Expert Insights From Jack Holman

For this article, I interviewed Jack Holman. He is a co-owner of Agent Extra — an all in one prospecting and lead generation agency for estate agents in the UK. Jack shared his insights and advice for those getting started on Instagram. 

A: What strategies does Agent Extra use and how do they translate into leads?

J: We struggled with our follower count for about two first years before pivoting to two key strategies that dramatically increased engagement and followers. First, we decided to bring the personal element front and center. We shared more content featuring myself and my business partner, Danny, to humanize the brand and connect with our audience on a more personal level. People resonate with stories, so we started sharing our journey, challenges, and successes. This helped build trust and make us more relatable, which is essential to the real estate industry where relationships matter.

‍Second, we actively engaged with the kinds of accounts we wanted to attract, such as prop tech businesses, real estate agencies and lettings agents. We liked, commented, and shared valuable insights on their posts—it helped spark meaningful conversations and relationships. This proactive approach resulted in organic growth—we went from 300 followers to over 3,000 in under a year. 

This growth directly translated into client leads. We’ve had countless new clients mention that they found us through Instagram.

A: What are your tips for building trust with your audience?

J: When we started Agent Extra, we knew we wanted to break away from the typical, corporate feel of real estate suppliers and marketing agencies. We wanted our brand to be fun, approachable, and full of personality. Humor and authenticity has been key—we aim to make people smile, whether it’s through our social media or our interactions with clients. Real estate can be stressful, so we wanted to bring some lightness to the process.

While this approach isn’t for everyone, it resonates with the right clients—those who appreciate our authenticity. We've received great feedback from potential clients who say our posts make them laugh and feel they know us a little before having met us. By staying true to who we are, we've built a brand that not only stands out but one that we are truly proud of.

A: Could you share an example of how your Instagram account has directly led to acquiring a client?

J: A great example of how our Instagram directly led to acquiring a client happened about three years ago. At the time, website building wasn’t even a service we offered, but it all changed thanks to a follower who had been keeping an eye on our posts. They loved our brand—our fun, approachable style, mixed with a solid understanding of the real estate industry—and felt that we’d be the perfect fit to build their website.

Even though we hadn’t positioned ourselves as web developers, they trusted our vision and approach to business based solely on our Instagram presence. They reached out, asking us to build their real estate website from scratch because they were convinced that if we could bring the same energy, creativity, and professionalism to their site as we did on social media, it would be a huge success.

Fast forward to today, and that same client is still with us. Not only did we deliver a website they loved, but it also marked the start of our journey into becoming a significant website builder within the property industry. This initial commission opened the door to new opportunities, and now, building websites for real estate agents and property professionals is a key part of what we do. It all started with an Instagram post, and now, we’re delivering high-performing websites to clients across the sector, proving how impactful social media can be in expanding our services and growing long-term relationships.

A: Do Instagram ads actually help businesses attract clients? What's your experience with paid ads?

J: Instagram ads can definitely attract clients, and we've found them to be a cost-effective way to generate brand awareness and leads. The real advantage is in the precise targeting—you can focus on specific demographics, locations, and interests, which helps us reach the right audience, like landlords or real estate agents.

Well designed creative, a simple short message and a clear call to action = A good Instagram ad. 

What works well for us is to publish a blog or article on our website that solves a problem in the field you are targeting, then run a paid traffic ad to that page on your website. This will generate thousands of visits to your website from people who work in your industry—it's a great way to bring brand awareness and retarget those visitors in the future. 

The success of Instagram ads heavily depends on what follows. Your offering needs to be strong. We've seen the best results when ads bring in potential clients and our organic content and personalized follow-up help convert them. 

A: What advice would you give to an emerging business?

J: Be patient—start small, test different strategies, and build out from there. Being authentic is really important: don’t be afraid to show the faces behind the business. Expressing our personalities and humor helped Agent Extra stand out in the real estate industry.

Engagement is also crucial. Don’t just post and wait for followers to roll in—actively comment, like, and interact with accounts in your target audience. This builds relationships and draws attention to your profile.

Paid ads, even if you start with just £5 per day, will help you generate great brand awareness and leads. Just make sure you have a solid lead follow-up process to convert them into clients—just because they don't become a customer today, doesn't mean they won't in the future.

Getting clients on Instagram takes time and patience — adjust as you go and keep testing different strategies. Good luck! 

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